Victor Emmanuel III of Italy

Victor Emmanuel III
Portrait in 1919
King of Italy (more...)
Reign	29 July 1900 – 9 May 1946
Predecessor	Umberto I
Successor	Umberto II
Prime Ministers	See list
Emperor of Ethiopia
Reign	9 May 1936 – 5 May 1941
Predecessor	Haile Selassie I
Successor	Haile Selassie I
King of the Albanians
Reign	16 April 1939 – 8 September 1943
Predecessor	Zog I
Successor	Zog I
Prime Ministers	See list
Born	(1869-11-11)11 November 1869 Naples, Kingdom of Italy
Died	28 December 1947(1947-12-28) (aged 78) Alexandria, Kingdom of Egypt
Burial	Saint Catherine's Cathedral, Alexandria, Egypt
Consort	Elena of Montenegro
Issue	Princess Yolanda, Countess of Bergolo Mafalda, Landgravine of Hesse Umberto II of Italy Giovanna, Queen of the Bulgarians Maria Francesca, Princess Luigi of Bourbon-Parma
Full name Vittorio Emanuele Ferdinando Maria Gennaro
House	House of Savoy
Father	Umberto I of Italy
Mother	Margherita of Savoy
Signature

Styles of King Victor Emmanuel III
Reference style	His Majesty
Spoken style	Your Majesty
Alternative style	Sir

Victor Emmanuel III (Italian: Vittorio Emanuele III, Albanian: Viktor Emanueli III; 11 November 1869 – 28 December 1947) was the King of Italy from 29 July 1900 until his abdication on 9 May 1946. In addition, he claimed the thrones of Ethiopia and Albania as Emperor of Ethiopia (1936–41) and King of the Albanians (1939–43), which were not recognised by all great powers. During his long reign (45 years), which began after the assassination of his father Umberto I, the Kingdom of Italy became involved in two World Wars. His reign also encompassed the birth, rise, and fall of Italian Fascism.

Victor Emmanuel abdicated his throne in 1946 to his son Umberto II, hoping to strengthen the support for the monarchy against an ultimately successful referendum to abolish it. He then went in exile to Alexandria, Egypt, where he died and was buried the following year.

He was nicknamed by the Italians as "Re soldato" (Soldier King) and "Re vittorioso" (Victorious King) after Italy was victorious in the First World War. He was also nicknamed "Sciaboletta" ("little saber") due to his height of 1.53 m (5 ft 0 in).

Biography

Early years

Victor Emmanuel was born in Naples, Italy. He was the only child of Umberto I, King of Italy, and his consort (first cousin by his grandfather Charles Albert of Sardinia), Princess Margherita of Savoy. Margherita was the daughter of the Duke of Genoa.

Unlike his paternal first cousin's son, the 1.98 m (6-foot 6") tall Amedeo, 3rd Duke of Aosta, Victor Emmanuel was short of stature even by 19th-century standards, to the point that today he would appear diminutive. He was just 1.53 m tall (just over 5 feet).^[1] From birth, Victor Emmanuel was known by the title of Prince of Naples.

On 24 October 1896, Prince Victor Emmanuel married Princess Elena of Montenegro.

Accession to the throne

On 29 July 1900, at the age of 30, Victor Emmanuel ascended the throne upon his father's assassination. The only advice that his father Umberto ever gave his heir was "Remember: to be a king, all you need to know is how to sign your name, read a newspaper, and mount a horse" . His early years showed evidence that, by the standards of the Savoy monarchy, he was a man committed to constitutional government. Indeed, even though his father was killed by an anarchist, the new King showed a commitment to constitutional freedoms.

Though parliamentary rule had been firmly established in Italy, the Statuto Albertino, or constitution, granted the king considerable residual powers. For instance, he had the right to appoint the Prime Minister even if the individual in question did not command majority support in the Chamber of Deputies. A shy and somewhat withdrawn individual, the King hated the day-to-day stresses of Italian politics, though the country's chronic political instability forced him to intervene no fewer than ten times between 1900 and 1922 to solve parliamentary crises.

When World War I began, Italy remained neutral at first, despite being part of the Triple Alliance (albeit it was signed on defensive terms and Italy objected that the Sarajevo assassination did not qualify as aggression). However, in 1915, Italy signed several secret treaties committing to enter the war on the side of the Triple Entente. Most of the politicians opposed war, however, and the Italian Chamber of Deputies forced Prime Minister Antonio Salandra to resign. Victor Emmanuel, however, declined Salandra's resignation and personally made the decision for Italy to enter the war. He was well within his rights to do so under the Statuto. Popular demonstrations in favor of the war were staged in Rome, with 200,000 gathered on 16 May 1915,^[2] in the Piazza del Popolo. However, the corrupt and disorganised war effort, the stunning loss of life suffered by the Italian army, especially at the great defeat of Caporetto, and the Post–World War I recession that followed the war turned the King against what he perceived as an inefficient political bourgeoisie. Nevertheless, the King visited the various areas of northern Italy suffering repeated strikes and mortar hits from elements of the fighting there, where he demonstrated considerable courage and care in personally visiting many people, with his wife the queen taking turns with nurses in caring for Italy's wounded. It was at this time, the period of World War I, that the King enjoyed genuine affection from the majority of his people. During the war he received about 400 threatening letters from people of every social background, mostly working class.^[3]

Support to Mussolini

The economic depression which followed World War I gave rise to much extremism among the sorely tired working classes of Italy. This caused the country as a whole to become politically unstable. Benito Mussolini, soon to be Italy's Fascist dictator, took advantage of this instability for his rise to power.

March on Rome

In 1922, Mussolini led a force of his Fascist supporters on a March on Rome. Prime Minister Luigi Facta and his cabinet drafted a decree of martial law. After some hesitation the King refused to sign it, citing doubts about the ability of the Regio Esercito (the Royal Army) to contain the uprising.

Fascist violence had been growing in intensity throughout the summer and autumn of 1922, climaxing with the rumours of a possible coup. General Pietro Badoglio told the King that the military would be able to rout the rebels, who numbered no more than 10,000 men, without any difficulty.

The troops were loyal to the King. Even Cesare Maria De Vecchi, commander of the Blackshirts, and one of the organisers of the March on Rome, told Mussolini that he would not act against the wishes of the monarch. It was at this point that the Fascist leader considered leaving Italy altogether. But then, in the minute before midnight, he received a telegram from the King inviting him to Rome. By midday on 30 October, he had been appointed President of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister), at the age of 39, with no previous experience of office, and with only 35 Fascist deputies in the Chamber.

The King failed to move against the Mussolini regime's abuses of power (including, as early as 1924, the assassination of Giacomo Matteotti and other opposition MPs) and remained silent during the winter of 1925–26 when Mussolini dropped all pretense of democracy. Later that year, Mussolini passed a law declaring that he was responsible to the King, not Parliament. Although under the Statuto Albertino Italian governments were responsible only to the monarch, it had been a strong constitutional convention since at least the 1860s that they were actually responsible to Parliament. By 1928, practically the only check on Mussolini's power was the King's right to dismiss him from office—though that right could only be exercised on the advice of the Fascist Grand Council, a body that could only be convened by Mussolini.

Though the King claimed in his memoirs that it was the fear of a civil war that motivated his actions, it would seem that he received some 'alternative' advice, possibly from the archconservative Antonio Salandra as well as General Armando Diaz, that it would be better to do a deal with Mussolini.

Whatever the circumstances, Victor Emmanuel showed weakness in a position of strength, with dire future consequences for Italy and for the monarchy itself. Fascism offered opposition to left-wing radicalism. This appealed to many people in Italy at the time, and certainly to the King. In many ways, the events from 1922 to 1943 demonstrated that the monarchy and the moneyed class, for different reasons, felt Mussolini and his regime offered an option that, after years of political chaos, was more appealing than what they perceived as the alternative: socialism and anarchism. Both the spectre of the Russian Revolution and the tragedies of World War I played large roles in these political decisions. At the same time, though, the Crown became so closely identified with Fascism that by the time Victor Emmanuel was able to shake himself loose from it, it was too late to save the monarchy.

Lateran Treaty

In 1929, Mussolini, on behalf of the King, signed the Lateran Treaty. The treaty was one of the three agreements made that year between the Kingdom of Italy and the Holy See. On 7 June 1929, the Lateran Treaty was ratified and the "Roman Question" was settled.

Loss of popular support

The Italian monarchy enjoyed popular support for decades. Foreigners noted how even as late as the 1940s newsreel images of King Victor Emmanuel and Queen Elena, born Princess Elena of Montenegro, evoked applause, sometimes cheering, when played in cinemas, in contrast to the hostile silence shown toward images of Fascist leaders.

On 30 March 1938, the Italian Parliament established the rank of First Marshal of the Empire for Victor Emmanuel and Mussolini. This new rank was the highest rank in the Italian military. His equivalence with Mussolini was seen by the king as offensive and a clear sign, that the ultimate goal of the fascist was to get rid of him.

As popular as Victor Emmanuel was, several of his decisions proved fatal to the monarchy. Among these decisions were his assumption of the imperial crown of Ethiopia, his public silence when Mussolini's Fascist government issued its notorious racial purity laws, and his assumption of the crown of Albania.

Emperor of Ethiopia

Prior to his government's invasion of Ethiopia, Victor Emmanuel would travel to Somalia italiana (English: Italian Somaliland) in 1934, where he celebrated his 65th birthday on November 11.^[4][5] In 1936, Victor Emmanuel assumed the crown of the Emperor of Ethiopia. His decision to do this was not universally accepted. Victor Emmanuel was only able to assume the crown after the Italian Royal Army invaded Ethiopia (Abyssinia) and had overthrown Emperor Haile Selassie during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War.

The League of Nations decried Italy's participation in this war and the Italian claim on Ethiopia's conquest was disputed by some members of the international community (namely the United States and the Soviet Union) but accepted by Great Britain and France in 1938. It was undone in 1941 by the Ethiopian restoration after five years of being within the Italian Empire.

The term of the last acting Viceroy of Italian East Africa, including Eritrea and Italian Somaliland, ended 27 November 1941 upon surrender to the allies. King Victor Emmanuel III renounced his claimed titles of Emperor of Ethiopia and King of Albania in November 1943,^[6] recognizing the previous holders of those titles as legitimate.

King of the Albanians

In 1939, Victor Emmanuel assumed the crown of the King of the Albanians. Italian forces invaded the nearly defenseless monarchy across the Adriatic Sea and caused King Zog I to flee. The Italian invasion of Albania was generally seen as the act of a stronger nation taking unfair advantage of a weaker neighbour.

In 1941, while in Tirana, the monarch escaped an assassination attempt by the 19-year-old Albanian patriot Vasil Laçi.^[7] Later, the author's act was considered by Communist Albania to be a sign of the overall discontent of the oppressed Albanian population. A second attempt by Dimitri Mikhaliov in Albania led the Italians to cast heavy doubts on the event by pointing to a possible Greek link following the monarch's green light to the Greco-Italian War.

Final efforts to save crown

On 10 June 1940, ignoring advice that the country was unprepared for war, Mussolini made the fatal decision to have Italy enter World War II on the side of Nazi Germany. Almost from the beginning, disaster followed disaster. In 1940 Italian armies in North Africa and in Greece suffered humiliating defeats. During the invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, Victor Emmanuel moved to a villa owned by the Pirzio Biroli family at Brazzacco in order to be close to the front.^[8] In late 1941, Italian East Africa was lost. In 1942, Italian Libya was lost. Early in 1943, the ten divisions of the "Italian Army in Russia" (Armata Italiana in Russia, or ARMIR) were crushed as an aside to the Battle of Stalingrad. Before the end of 1943, the last Italian forces in Tunisia had surrendered and Sicily had been taken by the Allies. Confronted by a lack of fuel as well as several serious defeats, the Royal Navy (Regia Marina) spent most of the war confined to port as a fleet in being. The Mediterranean Sea was hardly "Italy's Sea" (Mare Nostrum). The Royal Air Force (Regia Aeronautica), while generally doing better than the Army and the Navy, was chronically short of modern aircraft and it was even politely uninvited to participate in the Battle of Britain.

As Italy's fortunes worsened, the popularity of the King suffered. One coffee-house ditty went as follows:

Quando Vittorio era soltanto re

Si bevea del buon caffè.

Poi divenne Imperatore

Se ne sentì solo l’odore.

Oggi che è anche Re d’Albania

Anche l’odore l’ han portato via.

E se avremo un’altra vittoria

Ci mancherà anche la cicoria.

"When our Victor was plain King,

Coffee was a common thing.

When an Emperor he was made,

Coffee to a smell did fade.

Since he got Albania's throne,

Coffee's very smell has flown.

And if we have another victory

We're also going to lose our chicory."^[9]

On 19 July 1943, Rome was bombed for the first time in the war, further cementing the Italian people's disillusionment with their once-popular King.

Coup d'état against Mussolini

On the night of 25 July 1943, the Grand Council of Fascism voted to adopt an Ordine del Giorno (order of the day) proposed by Count Dino Grandi to ask Victor Emmanuel to resume his full constitutional powers under Article 5 of the Statuto. In effect, this was a motion of no confidence in Mussolini.

The same afternoon, Mussolini asked for an audience with the king at Villa Savoia. When Mussolini tried to tell Victor Emmanuel about the Grand Council's vote, Victor Emmanuel abruptly cut him off and told him that he was dismissing him as Prime Minister in favour of Marshal Pietro Badoglio. He then ordered Mussolini arrested and renounced the usurped Ethiopian and Albanian crowns in favour of the legitimate monarchs of those states. Victor Emmanuel had been planning to get rid of the dictator himself for some time.

Publicly, Victor Emmanuel and Badoglio claimed that Italy would continue the war as a member of the Axis. Privately, they both began negotiating with the Allies for an armistice. Court circles—including Crown Princess Marie-José—had already been putting out feelers to the Allies before Mussolini's ousting.

Armistice with the Allies

On 8 September 1943, Victor Emmanuel publicly announced an armistice with the Allies. Confusion reigned as Italian troops were left without orders, and the Germans, who had been expecting this move for some time, quickly disarmed and interned Italian forces and took control in the occupied Balkans, France and the Dodecanese, as well as in Italy itself. Many of those units that did not surrender joined forces with the Allies against the Germans.

Fearing a German advance on Rome, Victor Emmanuel and his government fled south to Brindisi. This choice may have been necessary to protect his safety; indeed, Hitler had planned to arrest him shortly after Mussolini's overthrow. Nonetheless, it still came as a surprise to many observers inside and outside Italy. They drew contrasts to King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, who refused to leave London during the Blitz, and of Pope Pius XII, who mixed with Rome's crowds and prayed with them after the working class Roman neighborhood of Quartiere San Lorenzo was bombed and destroyed.

Ultimately, the Badoglio government in southern Italy raised the Italian Co-Belligerent Army (Esercito Cobelligerante del Sud), the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force (Aviazione Cobelligerante Italiana), and the Italian Co-Belligerent Navy (Marina Cobelligerante del Sud). All three forces were loyal to the King.

On 12 September, the Germans launched Operation Eiche and rescued Mussolini from captivity. In a short time, he established a new Fascist state in northern Italy. Mussolini's Italian Social Republic (Repubblica Sociale Italiana) was never more than a German-dominated puppet state, but it did compete for the allegiance of the Italian people with Badoglio's government in the south.

Realizing that he was too tainted by his earlier support of the Fascist regime, Victor Emmanuel transferred most of his powers to his son, Crown Prince Umberto, in April 1944. By doing this, Victor Emmanuel relinquished most of his power while retaining the royal title. This status was formalized shortly after Rome was liberated on 4 June, when he turned over his remaining powers to Umberto and named him Lieutenant General of the Realm.

1946 referendum

Within a year, public opinion forced a referendum on whether to retain the monarchy or become a republic. On 9 May 1946, hoping to dispose voters favourably, Victor Emmanuel formally abdicated, succeeded by son Umberto II. The step failed; in the referendum held a month later, 52 percent of the voters favoured a republic, and the Kingdom of Italy was no more. Some historians (such as Sir Charles Petrie) have speculated that the result might have been different if Victor Emmanuel had abdicated in favour of Umberto shortly after the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943, or at the latest had abdicated outright in 1944 rather than simply transferring his powers to his son. Umberto had been widely praised for his performance as de facto head of state beginning in 1944, and his relative popularity might have saved the monarchy. Arturo Toscanini declared that he would not come back to Italy as a subject of the "degenerate king" and more generally as long as the house of Savoy was ruling;^[10] Benedetto Croce had previously stated in 1944 that "as long as the present king will remain the head of state, we feel that Fascism has not ended, (...) that it will be reborm, more or less disguised".^[11]

In any event, once the referendum's result was validated, all male members of the House of Savoy were required to leave the country, never to return. Taking refuge in Egypt, Victor Emmanuel died in Alexandria the following year, and was buried there, behind the altar of St Catherine's Cathedral. In 1948, Time magazine included an article about "The Little King".^[9]

Legacy

At worst, his abdication prior to the referendum reminded undecided voters of the role the monarchy and the King's own actions (or inactions) had played during the Fascist period, at precisely the moment when monarchists were hoping that voters would focus on the positive impression created by Umberto and his wife, Princess Maria José over the past two years. The 'May' King and Queen, Umberto and Maria José, in their brief, month-long reign, were unable to shift the burden of recent history and opinion.

Victor Emmanuel was one of the most prolific coin collectors of all time, having amassed approximately 100,000 specimens dating from the fall of the Roman Empire up to the Italian Unification. His collection was donated to the Italian people on his abdication, except for the coins of the House of Savoy which he took with him to Egypt. On the death of Umberto II in 1983, the Savoy coins joined the rest of the collection in the National Museum of Rome. Between 1910 and 1943 Victor Emmanuel wrote the 20-volume Corpus Nummorum Italicorum, which catalogued each specimen in his collection.^[12]

Titles, styles and honours

Titles and styles

• 11 November 1869 - 29 July 1900: His Royal Highness The Prince of Naples
• 29 July 1900 - 9 May 1946: His Majesty The King of Italy
  • 9 May 1936 - 5 May 1941: His Imperial Majesty The Emperor of Ethiopia
  • 16 April 1939 - 8 September 1943: His Majesty The King of the Albanians
• 9 May 1946 - 28 December 1947 His Majesty King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy

Honours

Italian

• Grand Master of the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation
• Grand Master of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
• Grand Master of the Military Order of Savoy
• Grand Master of the Civil Order of Savoy
• Grand Master of the Order of the Crown of Italy
• Grand Master of the Colonial Order of the Star of Italy
• Grand Master of the Order of Besa (Italian Albania)
• Grand Master of the Order of Skanderbeg (Italian Albania)
• Grand Master of the Order of the Roman Eagle
• Mauritian Medal for military merit of 10 decades
• War Merit Cross
• Commemorative Medal for the Italo-Austrian War 1915–1918
• Commemorative Medal of Campaigns of Independence Wars
• Commemorative Medal of the Unity of Italy

Foreign

• Knight of the Order of the Elephant (Denmark)
• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the White Lion (Czechoslovakia)
• Knight of the Order of the Seraphim (Sweden)
• VR III/1 of the Cross of Liberty (Estonia)
• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Lion and the Sun (Persia)^[13]
• Knight of the Order of Saint Peter of Cetinje (Montenegro)
• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Lāčplēsis (Latvia)
• Collar of the Order of the Chrysanthemum (Japan)
• Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle (Prussia)
• Extra Knight of the Order of the Garter (United Kingdom; expelled in 1941 when Italy entered World War II against the UK)
• Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece (Spain)
• Knight of the Order of Saints Cyril and Methodius (Bulgaria)
• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword (Portugal)
• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)
• Knight Grand Cross of the Virtuti Militari (Poland)
• Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Malta
• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Red Arrows (Spain)

Titles of the Crown of Italy

From 1860 to 1946, the following titles were used by the King of Italy:

Victor Emmanuel III, by the Grace of God and the Will of the Nation, King of Italy, King of Sardinia, Cyprus, Jerusalem, Armenia, Duke of Savoy, count of Maurienne, Marquis (of the Holy Roman Empire) in Italy; prince of Piedmont, Carignano, Oneglia, Poirino, Trino; Prince and Perpetual vicar of the Holy Roman Empire; prince of Carmagnola, Montmellian with Arbin and Francin, prince bailliff of the Duchy of Aosta, Prince of Chieri, Dronero, Crescentino, Riva di Chieri and Banna, Busca, Bene, Brà, Duke of Genoa, Monferrat, Aosta, Duke of Chablais, Genevois, Duke of Piacenza, Marquis of Saluzzo (Saluces), Ivrea, Susa, of Maro, Oristano, Cesana, Savona, Tarantasia, Borgomanero and Cureggio, Caselle, Rivoli, Pianezza, Govone, Salussola, Racconigi with Tegerone, Migliabruna and Motturone, Cavallermaggiore, Marene, Modane and Lanslebourg, Livorno Ferraris, Santhià Agliè, Centallo and Demonte, Desana, Ghemme, Vigone, Count of Barge, Villafranca, Ginevra, Nizza, Tenda, Romont, Asti, Alessandria, del Goceano, Novara, Tortona, Bobbio, Soissons, Sant'Antioco, Pollenzo, Roccabruna, Tricerro, Bairo, Ozegna, of Apertole, Baron of Vaud and of Faucigni, Lord of Vercelli, Pinerolo, of Lomellina, of Valle Sesia, of Ceva Marquisate, Overlord of Monaco, Roccabruna and 11/12th of Menton, Noble patrician of Venice, patrician of Ferrara.

Ancestors

Ancestors of Victor Emmanuel III of Italy

16. Charles Emmanuel, Prince of Carignano (= #22, #24)               8. Charles Albert of Sardinia (=#12)                       17. Princess Maria Christina of Saxony (= #23, #25)               4. Victor Emmanuel II of Italy                             18. Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany (= #26)               9. Maria Theresa of Austria (=#13)                       19. Princess Luisa of Naples and Sicily (= #27)               2. Umberto I of Italy                                   20. Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor               10. Archduke Rainer Joseph of Austria                       21. Maria Luisa of Spain               5. Adelaide of Austria                             22. Charles Emmanuel, Prince of Carignano (= #16, #24)               11. Princess Elisabeth of Savoy                       23. Princess Maria Christina of Saxony (= #17, #25)               1. Victor Emmanuel III of Italy                                         24. Charles Emmanuel, Prince of Carignano (= #16, #22)               12. Charles Albert of Sardinia (=#8)                       25. Princess Maria Christina of Saxony (= #17, #23)               6. Prince Ferdinand, Duke of Genoa                             26. Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany (= #18)               13. Maria Theresa of Austria (=#9)                       27. Princess Luisa of Naples and Sicily (= #19)               3. Margherita of Savoy                                   28. Maximilian, Crown Prince of Saxony               14. John of Saxony                       29. Princess Carolina of Parma               7. Princess Elisabeth of Saxony                             30. Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria               15. Amalie Auguste of Bavaria                       31. Caroline of Baden

Family

In 1896 he married princess Elena of Montenegro (1873–1952), daughter of Nicholas I, King of Montenegro. Their issue included:

1. Yolanda Margherita Milena Elisabetta Romana Maria (1901–1986), married to Giorgio Carlo Calvi, Count of Bergolo, (1887–1977);
2. Mafalda Maria Elisabetta Anna Romana (1902–1944), married to Prince Philipp of Hesse (1896–1980) with issue; she died in the Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald;
3. Umberto Nicola Tommaso Giovanni Maria, later Umberto II, King of Italy (1904–1983) married to Princess Marie José of Belgium (1906–2001), with issue.
4. Giovanna Elisabetta Antonia Romana Maria (1907–2000), married to King Boris III of Bulgaria (1894–1943), and mother of Simeon II, King and later Prime Minister of Bulgaria.
5. Maria Francesca Anna Romana (1914–2001), who married Prince Luigi of Bourbon–Parma (1899–1967), with issue.

See also

• Kingdom of Italy
• Italian Empire
• Amedeo, 3rd Duke of Aosta, Viceroy and Governor-General of Italian East Africa
• Aimone, 4th Duke of Aosta, titular king Tomislav II of Croatia

References

Reference 4: James Rennell Rodd [British Ambassador to Italy before and during the Great War]. Social and Diplomatic Memories. Third Series. 1902-1919. London, 1925.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Victor Emmanuel III of Italy.

Wikisource has the text of the 1922 Encyclopædia Britannica article Victor Emmanuel III..

• Genealogy of recent members of the House of Savoy
• King Vittorio Emanuele III

Victor Emmanuel III of Italy House of Savoy Born: 11 November 1869 Died: 28 December 1947
Regnal titles
Preceded by Umberto I	King of Italy 29 July 1900 – 9 May 1946	Succeeded by Umberto II
Preceded by Haile Selassie I	Emperor of Ethiopia (Not internationally recognised) ‌ 9 May 1936 – 5 May 1941	Succeeded by Haile Selassie I
Preceded by Zog I	King of the Albanians 16 April 1939 – 8 September 1943	Succeeded by Republic declared
Military offices
New title	First Marshal of the Empire 1938 – 1943 Served alongside: Benito Mussolini	Succeeded by Title abolished
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Miguel Primo de Rivera	Cover of Time Magazine 15 June 1925	Succeeded by Charles Horace Mayo

Kings of Italy between 1861 and 1946 Victor Emmanuel II (1861–1878) Umberto I (1878–1900) Victor Emmanuel III (1900–1946) Umberto II (1946)

Heads of state of Albania Independent Albania (1912–14) Qemali Alizoti Principality of Albania (1914–25) Prince William Toptani none (1916–18) Përmeti Delvina High Council of Regency Noli* Albanian Republic (1925–28), President Zogu Albanian Kingdom (1928–39), King Zog I Italian Occupation (1939–43) Victor Emmanuel III German Occupation (1943–44) Midhat Frashëri Mehdi Frashëri Communist Albania (1944–91) Nishani Lleshi Alia Republic of Albania (since 1991) Alia Islami* Arbnori* Berisha Gjinushi* Meidani Moisiu Topi Nishani * Acting head of state

Emperors of Ethiopia (1270–1974) Family tree Solomonic dynasty Yekuno Amlak Yagbe'u Seyon (Salomon I) Senfa Ared IV Hezba Asgad Qedma Asgad Jin Asgad Saba Asgad Wedem Arad Amda Seyon I Newaya Krestos Newaya Maryam Dawit I Tewodros I Yeshaq I Andreyas Takla Maryam Sarwe Iyasus Amda Iyasus Zara Yaqob (Kwestantinos I) Baeda Maryam I Eskender (Kwestantinos II) Amda Seyon II Na'od Dawit II Gelawdewos Menas Sarsa Dengel Yaqob Za Dengel Yaqob Susenyos I Fasilides Yohannes I Iyasu the Great Tekle Haymanot I Tewoflos Yostos Dawit III Bakaffa Iyasu II Age of the Princes Iyoas I Yohannes II Tekle Haymanot II Susenyos II Tekle Haymanot II Salomon II Tekle Giyorgis I Iyasu III Tekle Giyorgis I Hezqeyas Tekle Giyorgis I Baeda Maryam II Tekle Giyorgis I Salomon III Yonas Tekle Giyorgis I Salomon III Demetros Tekle Giyorgis I Demetros Egwale Seyon Iyoas II Gigar Baeda Maryam III Gigar Iyasu IV Gebre Krestos Sahle Dengel Gebre Krestos Sahle Dengel Yohannes III Sahle Dengel Yohannes III Sahle Dengel Yohannes III Sahle Dengel Tewodros dynasty Tewodros II Zagwe restoration Tekle Giyorgis II Tigray dynasty Yohannes IV Solomonic dynasty Menelik II Iyasu V Zewditu I Haile Selassie I

Fascism   Theory Core tenets Nationalism Imperialism Authoritarianism One-party state Dictatorship Social Darwinism Social interventionism Proletarian nation Propaganda Eugenics Heroism Militarism Economic interventionism Anti-communism Topics Definitions Economics Fascism and ideology Fascism worldwide Symbolism Ideas Actual Idealism Class collaboration Corporatism Heroic capitalism National Socialism National syndicalism State capitalism Supercapitalism Third Position Totalitarianism   Variants Italian National Socialism Falangism British Austrian Metaxism National Radicalism Rexism Clerical Legionarism Integralism   Movements Africa Greyshirts Ossewabrandwag Asia Brit HaBirionim Ganap Party Sakurakai Tōhōkai Northern / Northwestern Europe Ailtirí na hAiséirghe Black Front (Netherlands) Blueshirts Breton Social-National Workers' Movement British Fascists British People's Party (1939) British Union of Fascists La Cagoule Clerical People's Party Faisceau Flemish National Union French Popular Party General Dutch Fascist League Imperial Fascist League Lapua Movement Nasjonal Samling National Corporate Party (Greenshirts) National Fascisti Nationalist Party (Iceland) National Socialist Bloc National Socialist Dutch Workers Party National Socialist League National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands National Socialist Movement of Norway National Socialist Workers' Party (Sweden) New Party (UK) Patriotic People's Movement (Finland) Pērkonkrusts Rexism Central Europe Arrow Cross Party Austrian National Socialism Fatherland Front (Austria) Hungarian National Socialist Party National Front (Switzerland) Nazism Nazi Party Sudeten German Party Southern Europe Albanian Fascist Party Democratic Fascist Party Falange Greek National Socialist Party Italian Fascism Italian Social Republic Metaxism National Fascist Party National Union (Portugal) Republican Fascist Party Sammarinese Fascist Party Ustaše ZBOR Eastern and Southeastern Europe Bulgarian National Socialist Workers Party Crusade of Romanianism Iron Guard National Fascist Community National Fascist Movement National Italo-Romanian Cultural and Economic Movement National Social Movement (Bulgaria) National Radical Camp Falanga National Romanian Fascio National Renaissance Front Ratniks (Bulgaria) Romanian Front Russian Fascist Party Russian Women's Fascist Movement Slovak People's Party Union of Bulgarian National Legions Vlajka North America Fascism in Canada Canadian Union of Fascists Parti national social chrétien Gold shirts German American Bund Silver Legion of America South America Falangism in Latin America Brazilian Integralism Bolivian Socialist Falange National Socialist Movement of Chile Revolutionary Union   People Abba Ahimeir Nimio de Anquín Sadao Araki Marc Augier Maurice Bardèche Jacques Benoist-Méchin Henri Béraud Zoltán Böszörmény Giuseppe Bottai Robert Brasillach Alphonse de Châteaubriant Corneliu Zelea Codreanu Gustavs Celmiņš Enrico Corradini Carlo Costamagna Richard Walther Darré Marcel Déat Léon Degrelle Pierre Drieu La Rochelle Gottfried Feder Giovanni Gentile Joseph Goebbels Hans F. K. Günther Heinrich Himmler Fumimaro Konoe Adolf Hitler Hideki Tojo Ikki Kita Vihtori Kosola Agostino Lanzillo Dimitrije Ljotić Leopoldo Lugones Curzio Malaparte Ioannis Metaxas Robert Michels Oswald Mosley Benito Mussolini Eoin O'Duffy Gearóid Ó Cuinneagáin Sergio Panunzio Giovanni Papini Ante Pavelić William Dudley Pelley Alfred Ploetz Robert Poulet Vidkun Quisling José Antonio Primo de Rivera Lucien Rebatet Dionisio Ridruejo Alfredo Rocco Konstantin Rodzaevsky Alfred Rosenberg Plínio Salgado Rafael Sánchez Mazas Margherita Sarfatti Carl Schmitt Ardengo Soffici Othmar Spann Ugo Spirito Ferenc Szálasi Gonzalo Torrente Ballester Georges Valois Anastasy Vonsyatsky   Works Literature The Doctrine of Fascism Fascist Manifesto Manifesto of the Fascist Intellectuals Mein Kampf My Life The Myth of the Twentieth Century Zweites Buch Zaveshchanie russkogo fashista Periodicals La Conquista del Estado Das Reich Der Angriff Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung Deutsche Zeitung in Norwegen Deutsche Zeitung in den Niederlanden Figli d'Italia Fronten Gândirea Gioventù Fascista Je suis partout La France au travail Münchener Beobachter Novopress NS Månedshefte Norsk-Tysk Tidsskrift Das Schwarze Korps Der Stürmer Il Popolo d'Italia Sfarmă-Piatră Signal Vlajka Völkischer Beobachter Nash Put' Fashist l'Alba Film Der Sieg des Glaubens Tag der Freiheit: Unsere Wehrmacht Triumph of the Will Sculpture Allach Related topics Art of the Third Reich Fascist architecture Heroic realism Nazi architecture Nazism and cinema Nazi plunder   Organizations Institutional Ahnenerbe Chamber of Fasci and Corporations Grand Council of Fascism Imperial Way Faction Italian Nationalist Association Nationalsozialistischer Reichsbund für Leibesübungen Quadrumvirs Activist Fascist Union of Youth German American Bund National Youth Organisation (Greece) Russian Fascist Organization Union of Fascist Little Ones Union of Young Fascists – Vanguard (boys) Union of Young Fascists – Vanguard (girls) Paramilitary Albanian Militia Black Brigades Blackshirts Blueshirts Einsatzgruppen Gold shirts Greenshirts Greyshirts Hitler Youth Heimwehr Iron Wolf (organization) Lăncieri Makapili Silver Legion of America Schutzstaffel Sturmabteilung Waffen-SS Werwolf International Axis powers NSDAP/AO ODESSA   History 1910s Arditi Fascio 1920s Aventine Secession Acerbo Law March on Rome Beer Hall Putsch Italian economic battles 1930s March of the Iron Will German federal election, November 1932 German federal election, March 1933 Enabling Act 6 February 1934 crisis 1934 Montreux Fascist conference Spanish Civil War 4th of August Regime Anti-Comintern Pact 1940s World War II The Holocaust 25 Luglio Denazification Nuremberg Trials   Lists Anti-fascists Books about Hitler British fascist parties Fascist movements by country (A-F G-M N-T U-Z) Nazi ideologues Nazi leaders Speeches by Hitler SS personnel   Related topics Anti-fascism Anti-Nazi League Christofascism Clerical fascism Cryptofascism Ecofascism Esoteric Nazism Fascist (epithet) Fascist mysticism Germanisation Glossary of Nazi Germany Hitler salute Italianization Italianization of South Tyrol Islamofascism Japanization Ku Klux Klan Neo-fascism Neo-Nazism Roman salute Social fascism Synarchism Unite Against Fascism Völkisch movement Women in Nazi Germany Category Portal

Princes of Piedmont Charles (1456–1471) Emmanuel Philibert (1536–1553) Charles Emmanuel I (1562–1580) Philip Emmanuel (1586–1605) Victor Amadeus I (1587–1630) Francis Hyacinth (1632–1637) Victor Amadeus II (1666–1675) Victor Amadeus (1699–1715) Charles Emmanuel III (1715–1730) Charles Emmanuel IV (1751–1796) Umberto I (1844–1878) Victor Emmanuel III (1878–1900) Umberto II (1904–1947) Held in pretense: Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples*† (1937) Umberto of Savoy-Aosta*† (2009) *denotes titular Prince      †dispute over succession

Princes of Savoy 1st Generation None 2nd Generation Prince Anthony Prince Anthony Louis, Duke of Savoy Amadeus, Prince of Piemont Philip, Prince of Achaea 3rd Generation Amadeus, Duke of Savoy Louis, Count of Geneva Prince Giovanni Philip, Duke of Savoy Giano, Count of Faucigny and Geneva Pietro, Bishop of Geneva Prince Aimone Prince Giacomo Giovanni Ludovico, Bishop of Geneva Jacques, Count of Romont 4th Generation Prince Luigi Carlo, Prince of Piedmont Philibert, Duke of Savoy Prince Bernardo Charles, Duke of Savoy James Louis, Count of Genevois Prince Gian Claudio Galeazzo Prince Girolamo Philibert, Duke of Savoy Charles, Duke of Savoy Prince Louis Philippe, Duke of Nemours Prince Assolone Prince Giovanni Amedeo Prince Emanuele Filiberto Adriano Prince Louis Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy 5th Generation Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy Jacques, Duke of Nemours 6th Generation Filippo Emanuele, Prince of Piedmont Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy Charles Emmanuel, Duke of Nemours Henri, Prince de Genevois Prince Louis Prince François Paul Henri, Duke of Nemours Thomas Francis, Prince of Carignano Maurice, Cardinal of Savoy Prince Emmanuel Filibert 7th Generation Prince Louis Amadeus Francis Hyacinth, Duke of Savoy Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy Emmanuel Philibert, Prince of Carignano Joseph Emmanuel, Count of Soissons Eugene Maurice, Count of Soissons 8th Generation Victor Amadeus II, King of Sardinia Victor Amadeus, Prince of Carignano Louis Thomas, Count of Soissons Emanuel Philibert, Count of Dreux Prince Philippe Prince Eugene Prince Louis Jules 9th Generation Victor Amadeus, Prince of Piedmont Charles Emmanuel III, King of Sardinia Emanuele Philibert, Duke of Chablais Louis Victor, Prince of Carignano Eugenio, Count of Villafranca Prince Tommaso Emmanuel Thomas, Count of Soissons 10th Generation Victor Amadeus, Duke of Aosta Victor Amadeus III, King of Sardinia Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta Carlo, Duke of Chablais Carlo, Duke of Aosta Benedetto, Duke of Chablais Victor Amadeus II, Prince of Carignano Prince Tommaso Eugene Jean, Count of Soissons Giuseppe Maria, Count of Villafranca 11th Generation Charles Emmanuel IV, King of Sardinia Amedeus Alexander, Duke of Montferrat Victor Emmanuel I, King of Sardinia Maurizio, Duke of Montferrat Charles Felix, King of Sardinia Giuseppe, Count of Asti Charles Emmanuel, Prince of Carignano Eugenio, Duke of Carignano 12th Generation Charles Albert, King of Sardinia 13th Generation King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy Ferdinand, Duke of Genoa 14th Generation King Umberto I of Italy King Amadeo I of Spain Oddone, Duke of Montferrat Tommaso, Duke of Genoa** 15th Generation King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta*** Vittorio Emanuele, Count of Turin*** Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi*** Umberto, Count of Salemi*** Ferdinando, Duke of Genoa** Filiberto, Duke of Genoa** Adalberto, Duke of Bergamo** Eugenio, Duke of Genoa** 16th Generation King Umberto II of Italy Amedeo, Duke of Aosta*** Aimone, Duke of Aosta*** 17th Generation Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples Amedeo, Duke of Aosta*** 18th Generation Emanuele Filiberto, Prince of Venice and Piedmont Aimone, Duke of Apulia*** 19th generation Prince Umberto of Savoy-Aosta, Prince of Piedmont*** Prince Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi*** * member of a cadet branch of the House of Savoy ** Prince of Savoy-Genoa *** Prince of Savoy-Aosta

Authority control WorldCat VIAF: 13103888 LCCN: n80103764 GND: 118804545 SUDOC: 027487474 BNF: cb13539209w (data)